Caloric Difference After Draining Off the Grease

[galaga6846]

Last night I made my specialty, Italian Meatballs.  I baked them, so there is a lot of grease left in the pan that is obviously not consumed.

When I enter this meal into the custom meal app it gives each meatball 135 calories. But, this is when the meat is raw, uncooked, before the grease cooks out of the meat.

Since a tablesppon of grease has about 120 calories, and there is a very large volume of grease left in the pan that comes from the meat that is not eaten, would that mean that each meatball has less calories than what is counted after it's been cooked?  Or, does the calorie count in the app account for the grease that is drained off from the meat?

You have a burger, and usually you'll eat all of the grease because it's in the burger. However, when you have loose ground beef you drain the fat, and therefore you'd have less calories in the meat.
How do you account for this when you're logging foods?

[CJinAZ]

Well, it depends on your quality of meat.  I use the leanest possible ground beef, so there is very little fat left in the pan.  I would take the face value of the calories, according to your calorie chart, and not alter it for the amount of grease you think you are not consuming.  You would also have to account for any additives to the meatballs as well. 

[Ukase]

This is what I call an impractical problem to solve. 

Every cow is slightly different; even the ones that are stuck in a stall and don't get to move. The best you can do is guess. I would err on the side of caution and call it 135 calories per meatball. 

Kudos for making them yourself. Have you thought about using oatmeal instead of bread crumbs as a binder? 

On an aside: 

The reason raw calorie info is given, nobody knows how long you're going to cook it. And remember - a calorie is a unit of heat (energy when you come down to it). The longer you cook it, and the hotter you cook it, the fewer calories it will have. 

[galaga6846]

I cook them suckers until they're nice and brown! There's about an inch of grease left in the pan. Also, I add every ingredient, the finely chopped veggies, the sauce, the bread crumbs, the cheese, everything. I don't cheat.

[Dominique]

I can’t help you with the calories, as I don’t count them, but like you, I do make my own meatballs. Instead of using a pan, I bake them in the oven (15 minutes at 225 °C): this allows me to use no grease (I just put them on baking paper) and they hardly "sweat" any fat of their own (I use low-fat meat, about 7-10%). I make large quantities (usually about 30 of them), freeze most of the lot in boxes of 6 and take them out of the freezer every now and then. I then warm them up in a pan, using just a bit of butter. Good tip from @Ukase about using oatmeal as a binder, will try it next time!

[Ukase]

For best results when using oatmeal as a binder - I typically put mine in the food processor to make it almost into an oat flour. I also use it in my smoothies if I'm trying to bulk up, but want some slightly more complex carbs. 

[emili]

I make my own meatballs too. And I bake them. I use 90/10 beef or ground turkey. I have very little grease in the pan. meatballs in this house don't last- its usually one meal and a snack. I also can't help with calories because I don't eat them so I don't have to count them. But I would take the 135 as the calorie. Better be over than under. and I add a pinch of nutmeg. I don't know what it does, but they come out amazing.

[A_Lurker]

As others have said, use lower fat meat to start with and it isn't as big a deal.  However, I expect if you drain that liquid off into a measuring cup that you will find that it's a combination of liquids once it cools.  You mention veggies and cheese as well.  Both of these, as well as the meat, will release juice when you cook the meatballs.  Not all of the liquid left over is fat.

When I cook chili and/or soups, and even meatballs, I tend to use lean ground beef mixed half and half with turkey.  I don't bother trying to work out the cooked value, I just use the raw.  Also, like others have mentioned, I use oats instead of breadcrumbs in meatloafs.  I've never used them in meatballs, but might try that the next time.

[BJaupaj]

Body builders usually advice to weight your meat raw, so I wouldn't alter the calories.

[Michael190lbs]

The company that makes the meatball recommends you cook them so the fat and water that has escaped the meatball during the cooking process has been accounted for accordingly in the calorie estimate on the package.

Mike

[galaga6846]

These are homemade.

[JordanChristie]

Ukase , Does this mean a rare steak will have more calories than a well done steak?

[dragonpupps]

It depends on how much meat you make, and how much fat/grease comes out. It also depends on the ratio of lean meat to fat. It's a lot of math, but by using these numbers, I'm sure you can figure out how many calories you are actually consuming and saving by not consuming the grease.